Bellmore The Movies

This is not longislands last single screen house. 1.SAG HARBOR 2. MONTAUCK 3.BELLMORE . For years this is been called the itch a great theater with the lowest lobby ceilings i have ever seen

sorry #4 BRENTWOOD IS STILLOPEN AS A SINGLE

When I had this theatre the midnight shows were outgrossing the regular films reciepts. We did very well with a 3-D festival that we repeated twice.

A few years ago, I believe a bolt of lightning interrupted the show, damaging the marquee as well as the booth. Theater was restored, but the marquee was not. Does anyone have details about that?

I know they did renovate the theater and the booth but I never heard about a lightning strike.

I thought the marquee fell off in the middle of the night? They now have a flat one against the building.

Is this the theatre located next to the firehouse?

Yes, this theatre is next to a firehouse. When I last passed the place on the LIRR I noticed they now feature live children's shows.

In the '70s, a mom and pop ran this theatre. I'm told you could hear the firemen next door.

Does anyone know if Charlie Chaplin's films played here back in the day? Especially City Lights. Not revivals but as a new release.

Is this a photo of this Bellmore Movies? Click on photo to enlarge it.

That's it

Thanks Robert. I thought the photo was for this theater but I wasn't sure.

Does anyone know what type of equipment is in the booth and are they running reel-to-reel or have they gone platter

how sad is this pic.this had such a great marquee

Is there a law on L.I. that prohibits a theater from having a marquee? I noticed in the photo's that I found of this theater, the Merrick Cinemas, and the Sag Harbor Cinema that none of them have a marquee overhanging the street.

no law .

this theater had a great marquee

I agree about the marquee, you don't see many like it anymore. I would always glance over at it when I rode by on the LIRR. Sad it's gone and replaced by that sigh.

I have a freind whose cousin was involved in a movie that was accepted for the Long Island Film Festival that played here last year. I was in attendance and all of the films were projected from digital media (like DVD, etc). I didn't notice an overhead unit in front of the screen, so I assume there was a video projector in the booth. The movies themselves (one feature and several shorts) appeared to have been shot on 35mm, but there was some tell tale "letterboxing" and at one or two points a blue screen with a digital counter in the corner was projected for a few seconds before and after some of the films.

Anyway, I didn't get the feeling that this was a very old theater at all. The auditorium is a long and narrow rectangle featuring a two aisle configuration, dividing the seating into a central main section and two smaller side sections. There is no decor to speak of, just plain, flat, unadorned walls and ceiling. The lobby space is similarly plain with a low ceiling and small candy counter to one side. I got the feeling there might have been another auditorium running parallel to the one I was in, but I might be mistaken - I was too preoccupied with congratulatory conversations to make much note of the theater's layout.

This might be the oldest theater in operation on LONGISLAND...Cant think of any older ......Anyone?This theater could be from about 1930.... I say that because when i saw a movie here in late 80s floors were all wood ....All wood floors were used only early on,on longisland....

At some point, the theater space must have been refurbished into a simple unadorned box. As I wrote previously, there was no obvious sign of any ornamentation or detail work in the auditorium or small lobby. It looked like it could have been carved out of retail space sometime in the '70's.

around well before the 7os ....must have been removed ,when i saw a movie there it looked old,old,old.

Long Island and Ed, What about the ole Roslyn by the clock tower?
That might be rather old. Unfortunatly it's no longer a single screen.

THE OLD KB ROSLYN IS ALSO OLD............i still think this has it beat............

longislandmovies, I agree with you. I wonder when the Roslyn was built. I worked the house in the late early 60s for a while, it sure was creaky, The curtain went up and down and squeeked going up and squeeked even louder coming down. But it had a lot of charm back then, with a couple of older dedicated employees like the candy lady who was in her 70s and always gave me free soda with a wink like, don't tell the boss.

This is the last operating single screen in Nassau county N.Y.

Bellemore has a century head and RCA soundhead. 3000Watt Kniesley lamphouse. Christie platter. Smart ModVI no surrounds. They also run video. Also has century on century backup with 1600Watt lamp. They run a lot of live shows too.

Since they went platter and eliminated the reel-to-reel operation, is it now a manager/operator house, or do they still use local 640 projectionists?

Both. The union operators became managers so it IS still a union booth.

Thanks RCDTJ I am happy to hear that. What an interesting
signs of changing times story

Mickey Rooney and his wife appeared in their touring show here recently.

You ain't heard nothin' yet -- "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson screens here Sunday (12/2/07) at 11am for $5./ticket. I've never seen it on the big screen, and with the controvery over the recent DVD's lack of critical perspective commentary about Jolson's use of blackface, I'm curious to attend. They say a representative from the Al Jolson Society plans to be attending and available for Q & A after the film.

Was at the screening of the "Jazz Singer". While the print was OK for some reason it was screened as a "wide screen" film. When Jolson sang the projectionist had to lower the film on the screen because Al's head was cut off. After the film there was a Q & A session hosted by the President of the "Al Jolson Society" which was very imformative.

So, no one had or was able to cut a proper Academy-ratio aperture plate for this presentation. That's disappointing to hear. I won't be coming to this theatre for any pre-1953 revivals!

You have to realize that most theaters only have a 1.85 and 2.35 plate and lens. It's very rare that they would have to run 1.33 or 1.66

A little trick they may have tried, is removing the anamorphic attachment from the prime scope lens. The image would of course be smaller but the ratio might just be closer to the 1.33 required to show these fims properly.

RCDTJ... I realize this, of course. It just seems to me that if a theatre is going to run such a rare and important engagement as THE JAZZ SINGER that they would make sure to have the proper aperture plate on hand. Apart from the recent showings at the Loew's Jersey, this was the only showing of the film's restored print in the NYC area. What a shame they couldn't present it properly.

When I was in high school we called the place "The Itch".

It had just been renovated and they must have used some kind of sandpaper/burlap combination for the seats.

Memories:

The siren at the firehouse going off next door while the cute blonde got chomped on in the opening of "Jaws", almost had to buy my girlfriend new shorts and pull her down out of the ceiling.

A double bill
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=157&ProductID=31234

It's my understanding that the owners got seats from the Park East when it closed. That was some time ago.

Is the main name in the introduction correct? Currently listed as Bellmore Movies here:
http://www.mrmovietimes.com/movie-theaters/Bellmore-Movies.html

According to the current signboard affixed to the front of the theatre the name should be Bellmore Movies. On the destroyed marquee it read The Movies. However, the original, antique marquee read Bellmore. When the old marquee was in place the facade of the building was so rustic that I felt that they should have had a hitching post rather than parking spaces, seriously.

I was just browsing the American Images site and, incorrectly, in Merrick, they have a photo of the theatre with a traditional marquee proclaiming "The Movies". Still haven't come upon one of the old "Bellmore" marquee before they modernized the building's facade.